Play MP4 Files

How to Play MP4 Files in VLC

The MP4, or MPEG-4 Part 14, file type is used for multimedia files, such as digital video or digital audio. To play MP4 files, you would be amongst the most popular of multimedia files. It can be identified by the “.mp4″ file extension found at the end of a file name and is frequently seen in use among audio and video files that can be streamed, such as Apple podcasts. The MP4 format is based off of Apple’s QuickTime container format, MOV (i.e., “.mov” files) and can be played on computers, streamed online and listened to using portable media players, such as MP3 players, like the iPod. You can play MP4 files on your computer in a number of different media players, but this article will focus on playing MP4 files on VLC, an open source media player you can download for free by visiting the website http://www.videolan.org/vlc/.

Playing MP4 files on VLC is easy. Simply install VLC to your computer, following its default, recommended installation settings for your system, then find an MP4 file on your hard drive and double click to play it. Playing MP4 files on VLC can be even easier if you click the file and drag it into the already-open player. You can also open MP4 files in VLC by clicking “Media > Open File…” in the programs top-most menu; this can accessed by the shortcut key CTRL+O.

Sometimes VLC is not the default media player on your operating system. When this is the case, sometimes VLC does not automatically play your MP4 files. If this happens in Windows, you can right click on your MP4 file and choose “Open With…” from the drop down menu. Find VLC on your hard drive and associate the MP4 file type with VLC. This will make playing MP4 files on VLC work.

If you have any difficulty playing MP4 files on VLC, you can get help by clicking the “Help” button in VLC’s top menu. You can also get to the help section of VLC by pressing F1 on your keyboard while in the program. There, you will find a number of different links to help you find information.

Playing MP4 files on VLC is simple and allows you to enjoy your video and audio media in a free, user-friendly environment.